US2246135A - Hat sanitizer - Google Patents

Description

June 17, 1941. J. H. JAMES 2,246,135

HAT SANITIZER Filed Jan. 9, 1940 llll 5 llnlilfi 7 WM 3 W L M/ A TTORNE v.

Patented June 17, 1941 nnirsssrarss P TENT QFFICE HAT ssmrrznn Jay Homer James, Los Angeles, Calif. Application January 9, 1940, Serial No. 313,055

1 claim. (Cl. 250-51) My invention relates to the treatment of hats for sanitizing them after being used by different persons or being tried on or handled by persons in fitting hats to different customers in stores, particularly to prevent spreading scalp diseases of any kind.

In my invention I make use of ultra violet rays with which the hats are treated for the purpose of sanitation.

The ultra violet light ray is known to have great potency for killing the bacteria of the types that might be associated by the contacts of human tissues with the materials of which hats are made.

However, the ultra violet ray is also a serious menace to the eyes of the persons who look directly at it. However, when this light is caused to pass through normal glass the injurious effects, as relates to the eyes of a person, are prevented by those features of injurious character of the ultra violet ray being filtered out or dammed off as those rays pass through the glass.

In order to use a sanitizing feature involving ultra violet rays of light it is necessary for the protection of the eyes of the person doing the work to be completely guarded against the direct rays. and this is a safety object of my invention. The main object is to prevent scalp disease.

Other objects of the invention relate to the convenience for the use of my sanitizer brought about by the new and peculiar construction of my invention as hereinafter set forth and described.

The chief use of my invention relates to locations in stores where hats are sold and in presence of purchasers of hats. Buyers usually try on several hats before buying any. They naturally understand that most any hat that one may try on has perhaps been previously tried on by others before they do so. Thus if the sales clerk sanitizes a hat in the presence of the customer, either before or after the customer tries it on, he becomes convinced that those hats are sanitary. This is of great value in selling hats.

To be of real service as above, a sanitizer must be neat and attractive in appearance and have.

a transparent enclosure permitting the view of the hat from any point of observation during the work of sanitizing and at the same time it is of great advantage for a purchaser to look at the hat when in the sanitizer in a position simulating that when the hat is mounted on the head of the person.

An object of my invention is to arrange my constructions so that there will be the least visible obstructions possible to viewing the hat while it is being sanitized. At the same time to guard against damage to the eyesight of the viewers.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the quartz tubes in which the light is produced. Fig. 4 is a vertical edge view of the safety switch associated with and carried by the door of the glass box in which the treatment takes place. This figure is on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows a connection of the electrical conductors that extend across under the bottom of the glass box, and this view is on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

The apparatus is provided with a glass box having the top plate of glass I and the back side vertical wall 2 and the vertical end walls 3 also of glass. The bottom wall 4 is made of glass or wood as desired.

This box is provided with a glass door 5 hinged at 6 to a base chamber portion of the apparatus I Which base chamber may be made of any suitable material, preferably and here shown as being made of wood of a finished class such as is common with high class furniture.

The ultra violet rays are produced by quartz tubes 8 containing the gas which will produce the ultra violet rays when acted upon by a suitable electric current. These tubes 8 are electrically connected by the electric conductors 9 extending through bottom 4 of the box, and into the space of the base chamber 1 to a transformer ID. This transformer I0 is energized through the conductor wires II and I2 from any suitable electric current supply to produce through the transformer I0 the right electric current to produce the desired ultra violet rays. A switch I3 in this circuit of I I and I2 is controlled by a push rod I4 in the base i of the apparatus.

The apparatus is arranged so that the circuit of II and I2 is also controlled by a secondary switch l9 indicated in Fig. 4, of a conducting circuit composed of tinfoil I6 which is secured on the inside and entirely around the opening to the glass box and passing under the base 4 of the box.

The secondary switch I9 is provided with a contact piece H, see Fig. 4, connected to the glass door 5 of the box. This contact piece I1 is engaged when the switch is closed by the contact pieces I8 which are secured on the inside of the glass top I, as indicated by I9 in Fig. 1. The contact pieces I8 are connected to the tinfoil strips I6, as indicated in Fig.4. These tinfoil strips it are connected to the wires II and I2 at the bottom of the box at the lower right corner of Fig. 2 by means of 2 pieces of copper plate 20, see Fig. 5, on to which there is lapped the ends of the tinfoil strips I6. These plate pieces 29 are made of copper or other suitable material with which to make the contact of the tinfoil strips l6. Bolts I extend down from plates 20 through bottom 4 and are connected to the conductors H and I2.

So long as the glass door 5 is open the secondary switch I9 is also open and thus no current can pass through the quartz tube 8, but when the door is closed that secondary switch closes the tinfoil circuit as indicated by l9 at the top of the box. However, in service before any current passes through the quartz tubes 8 the switch l4 must be closed.

There is provided the base piece 2'3 made of brass or other suitable material, chromium plated, on which the hat to be treated is placed. This base piece 23 is concave in its main portion 24 for the purpose of becoming a reflector to reflect the light rays upwards to the hat 25.

In the use of the apparatus when the door 5 is open there can no light escape to the eyes from i prevents injury to the eyes of the persons using the apparatus, which is a great desideratum.

What I claim is:

In an apparatus of the class described, a chamber having glass walls mounted on a horizontal base member, a seat on said base member adapted to hold a hat in upright position simulating a position as worn by a person, an ultra violet light located within the central area of said hat seat in close association with the inside of the sweat band of a hat when on the said seat, a door opening in the said glass walled chamber and a glass door for said opening, said door hinged on the edge of said horizontal base, an electrical switch member located in the said glass walled chamber at the top of said door opening, contact switch members of the said switch spaced apart from each other leaving a gap between them and electrical conductor lines extending from said contact members around the said door opening and down below said horizontal base member and connected to an electrical current switch located below the said base member, a contact switch member fixed to the top of said door and adapted to contact with and close to the aforementioned gap of the switch members located at the top of said door opening, thus closing that circuit switch as the door is closed and opening the said switch on the opening of said door.

JAY HOMER JAMES.

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